Top Ten Honeymoon Destinations: A Roundup of Lists and Polls

• • The World's Top 10 Honeymoon Hotspots

• The World's •

Top Honeymoon Hotspots

Two Chairs on Beach

You'll find many "Top Honeymoon Destination" lists floating around. Perhaps not surprisingly, they tend to list the same places. Hawaii makes every list, usually ranked right at the top. Caribbean islands like Jamaica and Aruba and St. Lucia appear again and again. Tahiti, Italy, Paris, London, Fiji—repeaters all. That's a good thing, though. Those places are popular for a reason, offering the sort of beauty, amenities, activities, and other goodies that romantic travelers are seeking. If your fantasy matches one of these popular destinations, you're in good company.

But we don't need to tell you that anywhere you want to spend your honeymoon is the perfect destination for you. A lakeside cabin in North Carolina, a road trip along the Gulf Coast, island-hopping around the Costa Brava, a safari in Namibia, a walking tour through Wales, Australian wine fests, Thai beaches, Costa Rican eco-tours, snorkeling in the Galapagos...it's all wonderful.

For the record, though, here are the current most-popular honeymoon locales on the planet—at least in the opinion of the magazines and websites cited here.

Also See: This Year's Top 50 Hotspots | Earlier Poll Results

We based our list of the 2009 Top 10 Honeymoon Destinations on a combination of objective and subjective criteria, including our formal poll of readers; an informal poll of travel-writer colleagues; statistical industry trends; and an appreciation for destinations that we feel offer consistent reward and value.

1. Hawaii

2. Jamaica

3. Mexico

4. Tahiti

5. St. Lucia

6. Italy

7. U. S. Virgin Islands

8. Aruba

9. Las Vegas

10. Turks & Caicos Islands

Each year for more than a decade, Modern Bride magazine has polled upwards of 6,000 travel agents (all members of the prestigious Virtuoso network) to determine that year's Top 50 Honeymoon Destinations. The 2008 Top 10 winners are:

1. Italy

2. Hawaii

3. Tahiti

4. Mexico

5. Greece

6. Costa Rica

7. Bali

8. Fiji

9. France

10. Turks & Caicos Islands

»» See the poll's complete Top 50 list of popular honeymoon destinations.

»» See the poll's results from earlier years. You'll find that many destinations remain on the list with consistency, while others come and go.

The popular website, geared heavily toward male readers, came up with this list of destinations for "the perfect post-wedding getaway:"

1. Hawaii

2. Costa Rica

3. Africa

4. Tahiti

5. Las Vegas

6. Aspen

7. Turks & Caicos Islands

8. Nice, France

9. The Bahamas

10. Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada

We included Travel Counsellors to get a decidedly non-USA view of what counts as a Top 10 honeymoon getaway. Recipient of the United Kingdom's highest business accolade—the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise (2003)—Travel Counsellors is based in Bolton, Lancashire. Their (undated) Top 10 honeymoon destinations:

1.      Dubai

2.      Barbados

3.      Mauritius

4.      Maldives

5.      Malaysia

6.      Seychelles

7.      Hawaii

8.      Jamaica

9.      Fiji

10. New York City

The only channel on TV devoted to travel came up with this list:

1. Mexico

2. Las Vegas

3. Lake Louise, Canada

4. Walt Disney World, Florida

5. Amankila, Indonesia

6. Florence, Italy

7. St. John, U. S. Virgin Islands

8. Bora Bora, Tahiti

9. Aruba

10. Big Island, Hawaii

TravelSense.org is the consumer-oriented branch of ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents). The site doesn't really rate honeymoon destinations. Instead, it discusses what it considers worthwhile and popular locales for post-wedding trips. They are:

Northern California (San Francisco, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Monterey, Sacramento)

Las Vegas

New Orleans

Hawaii

Caribbean (specific mentions: The Bahamas, Jamaica, U. S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Aruba, and St. Lucia)

Mexico (specific mentions: Cabo San Lucas/San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Acapulco)

Europe (London, Paris, Spain, Italy)

The American Society of Travel Agents, known as ASTA, polled 585 travel agency owners and managers in 2008 to determine the most popular "second honeymoon" destinations. As you'd expect, they're similar to the "first honeymoon" destinations found above.

1. Hawaii

2. Cruise

3. Caribbean

4. Jamaica

5. Cancun

6. Europe

7. Italy

8. Mexico

9. Tahiti

10. St. Lucia

Also See: Modern Bride Magazine 2008 Top 50 | Earlier Poll Results

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